Critics have slammed the “testing the waters” NBA Draft policy and this year will only give them more ammo: 80 college players have declared early for this year’s draft. Just 60 players are chosen in the NBA Draft and only 30 of those players get guaranteed contracts. To highlight how out of control this process has become, we examine the Top 10 Oddest Early Entries.
.
10. Jeff Robinson (Seton Hall)
There’s been a mass exodus from Seton Hall this offseason with the departure of Bobby Gonzalez, but this one really stuck out. After sitting out the first semester because he transferred from Memphis, he turned it on during the final month of the year. But 6-6 swing men aren’t exactly in demand at the next level, especially with only one month of solid play on their resume.
.
9. Adnan Hodzic (Lipscomb)
Hodzic was the second-leading scorer in all of Division I and the Atlantic Sun Player of the Year thanks to his 22.7 points a night – he also chipped in nine rebounds per game too. But considering he goes up against future insurance salesmen and teachers on a nightly basis as opposed to NBA-talent level players, shouldn’t he be averaging a double-double?
While he hasn’t actually said it, most expect him to come back, which would probably be the best choice for him. Just based on his rebounding total, one assumes he’s not in the paint as much as he should be for a guy his size (6-9). The finesse big man is a rare bird in the NBA, and those guys who pull it off wouldn’t be playing at Lipscomb.
.
8. Carlon Brown (Utah)
Brown was the Utes’ leading scorer last season (12.6 PPG) but he asked to be released from his scholarship in March and it was granted. Brown felt his playing style fit better elsewhere. Said his coach Jim Boylen: “He felt he couldn’t be successful individually, playing the way I want him to play, so he left. Although Carlon is a talented player, my job is to get the team to play winning basketball.” That should be a red flag if a coach wants to decrease someone’s role to play winning basketball.
.
7. Anatoly Bose (Nicholls State)
Bose has steadily increased his point totals over the last three seasons from 10 to 15 to his 21.1 points a game this season, putting him among the top 20 scorers in the country. But those impressive numbers have come against teams in the Southland Conference and any NBA team would have to worry about a player that took three years to finally start torching inferior competition.
At 6-foot-6, 200 pounds, Bose is way too undersized to be a forward and just a little bit too big to be a guard in the NBA. But Bose is intent on playing professionally somewhere: “Hopefully I can play professionally after this, whether it’s in the NBA, Europe, or NBL. I just want to keep playing.” He might want to start packing his bags now.
.
6. Lazar Trifunovic (Radford)
Trifunovic’s numbers are respectable (13 PPG and 8.1 RPG) for a forward, but like many of the guys on this list, they come against subpar competition. He’s certainly not going up against NBA-level talent on a weekly basis. He also didn’t show up against tournament teams. Against Kansas he scored just seven points and in his own conference against Winthrop, he scored four points combined in two games.
.
5. Anthony Gurley (Massachusetts)
Gurley has come right out and said he plans to come back his senior season and that’s probably the best move for him. He scored 13.6 points a game and averaged just one assist. One of those numbers will probably have to increase for him to be a legitimate prospect. He also has to improve his big-time play. In the last month of the season, Gurley scored just eight, two and five points before exploding for 24 in the final regular season game.
.
4. Paul Davis (Winston Salem-State)
Davis was on the All-Independent Second Team after leading his team in scoring with 10.7 points per game. You read that right. He was his team’s leading scorer with nearly 11 points per game. He also grabbed nearly eight rebounds a night as well. His coach says he only wants to test the waters. We hope he brings his floaties.
.
3. C.J. Webster (San Jose State)
If you’re a forward not averaging double-digit points, then you should at least be a rebounding machine. Webster unfortunately isn’t. His 8.8 points per game seems a little low for a player declaring for the draft. His 4.8 rebounds per game are even lower. If he was coming off the bench with just 10-15 minutes a game, this would make sense. But Webster started 18 games and averaged 22 minutes a game.
.
2. Stevy Worah-Ozimo (Slippery Rock)
Worah-Ozimo might be the oddest name on this list and that’s not just because he has an unusual last name. It’s because he didn’t play basketball this season. In fact, we’re not even sure if he’s on Slippery Rock’s basketball team, although that’s where he’s listed on the early entry list. Worah-Ozimo played the 2008-09 season at North Carolina Central, where he averaged less than 10 PPG. After that he just disappeared from the face of the earth. Until now.
.
1. John Sloan (Huntingdon (AL) College)
We think this is a joke but we don’t want to laugh at someone’s dream of making the NBA. Sloan, a 5-11 guard, didn’t start a single game for Division III Huntingdon College and averaged about 10 minutes of playing time. He collected 20 assists to 23 turnovers and averaged two points a game. It should be a real toss up for the No. 1 overall pick: John Sloan or John Wall?
Update – May 3rd: Huntingdon has put a press release on its site entitled “Statement Concerning John Sloan and the NBA Draft.” It reads:
“Huntingdon College Director of Athletics Buzz Phillips has announced that former student-athlete John Sloan has jokingly placed his name among the early entries for the upcoming NBA Draft.
This is in no way a serious submission and all correspondence on this matter should go directly to John Sloan.”
John Wall can breath easy.
12 Comments
That’s crazy. Will be interesting to see who gets contracted.
you figured if this was usch a reputable site that they would at least know what division a player was in. John Sloan plays at Huntingdon College a D3 NCAA school not a NAIA D2. some experts you are
Stevy worah-ozimo is a very good and talented player,in fact a great student.he is graduating in a few weeks and let me correct that he averaged 7.3ppg and 8.2rbs along with 1blck per game.He was in the national team of Gabon and will be this summer again.He was 4th leading rebounder in the nation in juco,in ncaa was independent leading rebounder,all independent team and made his name at big games against MIAMI AND MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY.Did
Stevy worah-ozimo did not play for slippery rock even if they begged him to play for them.He came to get his degree from there since education counts a lot for him.He was was working out with a professional athlete trainer since september in pittsburgh and that is why he got of the radar of NBA SCOUTS.He had 18 rebound at Michigan let me remind you of that.And played summer leagues in NYC with Ron Artest etc…NIKE PRO,RUCKER,DYCKMAN .CHECK HIM OUT
Stevy worah-ozimo is a very good and talented player,in fact a great student.he is graduating in a few weeks and let me correct that he averaged 7.3ppg and 8.2rbs along with 1blck per game.He was in the national team of Gabon and will be this summer again.He was 4th leading rebounder in the nation in juco,in ncaa was independent leading rebounder,all independent team and made his name at big games against MIAMI AND MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY
Adnan Hodzic is a great player. He dominated the Atlantic Sun. I’m glad to see him come back to Lipscomb though. Next season, Hodzic will most likely post a double double, averaging 20 points and 10 rebounds. Hodzic will likely go first round with these stats. Good luck the rest of the way Hodzic!
I have watched Bose play..kid has extreme talent..he will definately be going somewhere
I am not a hater by any means. Stevy is very raw…but he has been playing for so long on many different levels. I attended SRU with him and he couldn’t even dominate in intramurals with a team of former college players, the got beat on by a bunch of 5′9″ and smaller white boys. He travels almost every time he touches the ball. He is a very good rebounder when he is not boxed out, and has good post moves that usually consist of 3 or 4 steps. Very good athleticism, but with a lot of work he could possibly be a good player.
This is exactly what Sloan wanted. Kudos for Buzz calling him out on it. I’ve been at the school for two years and I had never heard of him before this.
This is for the person that posted the comment about Stevy on May 25, 2010 at 7:31pm. I am one of those former college players that played on that inturmural team with him this year. And for the record you are a hater by all means! Stevy is very raw and talented and isn’t a nba draft prospect for no reason. Number 1 tell the whole truth! there where only 3 ex-college players on that team. It was me, Claude Chalk, snd Stevy. The only reason why he had a hard time was because the refs hated on him and let smaller guys foul him on every play and at the same time he wasn’t even allowed to dunk! That ain’t basketball! Don’t be mad because you can’t ball. HATER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This is for the person that posted the comment about Stevy on May 25, 2010 at 7:31pm. I am one of those former college players that played on that inturmural team with him this year. And for the record you are a hater by all means! Stevy is very raw and talented and isn’t a nba draft prospect for no reason. Number 1 tell the whole truth! There where only 3 ex-college players on that team. The rest of them were all rec players besides maybe 2 of them I think played in high school. It was me, Claude Chalk, and Stevy. The only reason why he had a hard time was because the refs hated on him and let smaller guys foul him on every play and at the same time he wasn’t even allowed to dunk! That ain’t basketball! Don’t be mad because you can’t ball. HATER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
First of all Marques…if your read the end of my post I said what he did good and what he did bad. I did not say he sucked, he’ll never make it, or anything of the sort. Second, Claude played college ball, I see no records of you ever playing, i’ve seen you play, you could even make my Juco team, where we were ranked top 5 in the nation both years, won conference both years, won state both years, won regions one year, and finished 7th in the national tournament one year. I know the game very well and I know that Stevey is not ready for the NBA. Matter fact I just watched a video of him in a Nike Pro game and he did nothing, except get dunked on and foul. Like I said he needs a lot of work and has no business putting his name in the draft just yet, especially with hopes of making a nba team. I can see him on a d-league roster but not a nba roster. He is not a prospect dummy, he is a draft entry, watched the combines today..no stevey. I wish him the best of luck and will eat my words if he gets drafted this year.